MEMORIAL RESOLUTION FOR BOARD MEETING OF JUNE 18, 2015
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MEMORIAL RESOLUTION sponsored by the Board of Commissioners extending sympathy and condolences to the family of Alice Lucille Tregay
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WHEREAS, Alice Lucille Hicks was born on November 14, 1929 in Evanston to Roy and Fannie Hicks, the youngest of their six children; and
WHEREAS, Alice accepted Christ at an early age and was baptized at Ebenezer AME Church in Evanston, where she served as an usher; and
WHEREAS, in 1947 Alice married the late Vincent Lindsay and the couple had a daughter; and
WHEREAS, Alice had a son and another daughter with her husband James Tregay, who she married in 1964; and
WHEREAS, as an adult, Alice went back to school, attending Southeast Junior College and Roosevelt University; and
WHEREAS, Alice devoted her life to social change and community service and with her husband James supported people and organizations that shared her vision for a more equal society; and
WHEREAS, under the leadership of Al Raby and Dick Gregory, Alice was an integral part of the group that from 1962 to 1966 protested school overcrowding and segregation in black neighborhoods, joined later by the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.; and
WHEREAS, the group also worked with the American Friends Society (Quakers) to help put an end to housing discrimination in the city and suburbs; and
WHEREAS, Alice, James and their children participated in marches in favor of open housing, led by Dr. King and ministers from the Southern Leadership Council; and
WHEREAS, Alice worked with the Reverend Jesse Jackson for Operation Breadbasket (which became the Rainbow PUSH Coalition), focusing on the struggle against discrimination in hiring practices of large companies; and
WHEREAS, while working for Operation Breadbasket, Alice became more involved in politics, running the campaigns for those she felt shared her commitment to equality, including Alderman William Cousins, Abner Mikva and Congressman Ralph Metcalfe and working for the campaigns of President Jimmy Carter, Vice President Walter Mondale, Harold Washington, Jesse Jackson and Senator Carol Moseley Braun; and
WHEREAS, during these campaigns, Alice realized that voter registration was key to successful elections and she started the Political Education Division of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, becoming the director until her retirement and staying active in the voter registration movement long afterwards;
WHEREAS, always committed to hard work, Alice worked for the Illinois Department of Human Rights for eight years and served as the chief lobbyist for the Black Illinois Legislative Lobby as part of her work with the Woodlawn Organization; and
WHEREAS, Alice was recognized for her outstanding work in the fight for civil rights and for her community service by numerous organizations and was presented with several prestigious honors, including one bestowed in March 2004 by a young Illinois State Senator who in four years became the first African-American President of the United States; and
WHEREAS, Alice passed from this life on April 18, 2015; and
WHEREAS, Alice leaves behind to mourn her passing and celebrate her life her husband James Tregay; daughters Alice (Robert) Fluegge and Dawne Emmett; her son David (Clare) Tregay; grandchildren Derrick (Rachel) Fluegge, Adam (Janette) Hickman, Jason Hickman, Robert (Heather) Fluegge, Rachel Emmett and Erika Emmett; ten great-grandchildren; her brother Sanders (Karen) Hicks; and many cousins and friends that she considered family; and
WHEREAS, all those whose lives Alice touched, including the many she trained to register voters will continue her fight for equal rights and honor her life's work for generations to come; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the Board of Commissioners of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, on behalf of ourselves and staff, extend our sympathy and condolences to the family of Alice Lucille Tregay; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this Resolution be spread upon the permanent Record of Proceedings of the Board of Commissioners of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, and that a copy of same, suitably engrossed, be presented to the family of Alice Lucille Tregay.
Dated: June 18, 2015
Approved: MARIYANA T. SPYROPOULOS, President; BARBARA J. MCGOWAN, Vice President; FRANK AVILA, Chairman, Committee on Finance; MICHAEL A. ALVAREZ; TIMOTHY BRADFORD; CYNTHIA M. SANTOS; DEBRA SHORE; KARI K. STEELE; Commissioners of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago
Approved as to Form and Legality: Ronald M. Hill, General Counsel